Table of contents:
- The role of vitamin D in the death rate of COVID-19
- 1,024,298
- 831,330
- 28,855
- A deficiency in vitamin D can trigger a cytokine storm
- Who is most at risk for vitamin D deficiency?
So far, there are still many things that researchers don't know about COVID-19. However, new findings reveal that vitamin D levels in the body actually play an important role in the death rate of COVID-19. How could this be?
The role of vitamin D in the death rate of COVID-19
The COVID-19 outbreak has now caused millions of cases worldwide and hundreds of people have died. The number of cases of death which keeps on increasing is influenced by several factors. Starting from a history of chronic illness suffered by the patient to limited facilities in the hospital.
Recent research published in medRxiv revealed that one of the contributors to the death rate in COVID-19 is vitamin D deficiency.
The research, led by a team from Northwestern University, analyzed statistical data from hospitals and clinics in several countries from China, France, Germany, South Korea, to the United States.
Some of the countries above are countries with the highest death rates for COVID-19, such as Italy, Spain and the UK. Nearly a proportion of patients from these countries actually had lower levels of vitamin D than countries not so badly affected.
COVID-19 Outbreak updates Country: IndonesiaData1,024,298
Confirmed831,330
Recovered28,855
DeathDistribution MapThis research was conducted because the research team wanted to know the unexplained difference in the death rate of COVID-19 from one country to another. So they tried to check the vitamin D levels of a number of patients from badly affected countries.
This is because one of the risk factors for COVID-19 death is a cytokine storm. Cytokine storms are a severe inflammatory condition caused by an overactive immune system.
The study apparently found a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and cytokine storms on the COVID-19 mortality rate.
The reason is, cytokine storms can have a quite severe impact on the lungs and cause acute respiratory problems that can lead to death.
However, this does not mean that people are asked to "stockpile" vitamin D supplements in large quantities. This finding still requires further research by comparing other countries with different conditions.
A deficiency in vitamin D can trigger a cytokine storm
As previously explained, vitamin D deficiency affects the mortality rate of COVID-19 because it can trigger a cytokine storm. Why is that?
Adequacy of vitamin D can boost the innate immune system and prevent them from becoming overactive. That means that healthy vitamin D levels are likely to protect COVID-19 patients from severe complications, including death.
Vitamin D may not be able to prevent others from transmitting viral infections, but it can reduce the risk of complications and death in patients.
The researchers also think that this relationship also helps explain why young children have a low risk of dying from COVID-19.
This is because children still rely on their innate immune system, so that is likely to reduce the risk of overreaction.
Even though vitamin D plays an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic, people are still asked not to consume vitamin D excessively. Excessive consumption of vitamin supplements will certainly cause side effects.
Therefore, researchers still need further studies to see how vitamin D can be used effectively to protect against complications of COVID-19.
In essence, vitamin D deficiency is dangerous, but can be treated through the use of reasonable supplements. The findings may serve as a new strategy to help protect groups who are vulnerable to COVID-19, such as elderly patients.
Meanwhile, reported by the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, getting enough vitamin D is necessary to deal with COVID-19, especially reducing the risk of death.
However, when the body experiences inflammation, such as occurs in patients infected with COVID-19 and experiencing severe conditions, vitamin D needs to be stopped temporarily.
This is because vitamin D can activate the inflammatory pathway and the inflammatory molecule, IL-1B. This turns out to be a characteristic and can affect the appearance of symptoms of COVID-19.
Therefore, vitamin D may need to be stopped temporarily when symptoms appear and can be continued according to the patient's condition.
Who is most at risk for vitamin D deficiency?
The complications of COVID-19 that can lead to death may be caused by a lack of vitamin D levels in the body. Therefore, it is important to meet your daily vitamin D needs through food and supplements.
The daily requirement for vitamin D depends on a person's age, such as:
- infants under 12 months of age: 400 IU (international unit)
- children 1-13 years old: 600 IU
- adolescents 14-18 years: 600 IU
- adults 19-70 years: 600 IU
- seniors 71 years and over: 800 IU
- pregnant and lactating women: 600 IU
For people who are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency, such as the elderly, usually need more daily intake. The following are some of the groups most at risk of experiencing vitamin D deficiency, such as:
- breastfed infants without additional vitamin D supplements
- elderly because of decreased kidney function to convert vitamin D into the active form
- people with dark skin
- people with osteoporosis
- people suffering from kidney disease, chronic liver disease, and obesity
Some of the types above are among the groups that are at risk of experiencing vitamin D deficiency. Therefore, meeting the daily intake of vitamin D according to their respective health conditions is quite important, especially to reduce the risk of dying from COVID-19.
